Aaron Hernandez pleads not guilty to murder indictment

Sep. 6, 2013
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Aaron Hernandez is escorted into the courtroom of the Attleboro District Court for his hearing on Aug. 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. The former New England Patriots tight end was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Odin Lloyd. / Jared Wickerham, Getty Images

by Maureen Mullen, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Maureen Mullen, Special for USA TODAY Sports

FALL RIVER, Mass. - Six times on Friday a Superior Court clerk read a charge against Aaron Hernandez and asked for his plea, and six times the former New England Patriots tight end answered in a clear voice:

"Not guilty."

Hernandez is charged with first-degree murder in the June 17 killing of his friend Odin Lloyd, 27, a former semi-pro football player, and also faces five accompanying weapons charges.

Hernandez, wearing a navy blue suit jacket and white button-down shirt without a tie, was arraigned in a hearing that lasted a little more than 10 minutes in Bristol Superior Court.

Hernandez's lawyers will ask for bail at an Oct. 9 hearing. Until then, he will remain held at a Bristol County correctional facility, where he has been since he was arrested at his North Attleborough, Mass., home on June 26. If convicted, Hernandez, who was released by the Patriots within hours of his arrest, faces a possible sentence of life in prison.

Hernandez's attorneys will attack the circumstantial evidence against their client at the bail hearing next month, but bail is unlikely with other shooting investigations - with possible links to Hernandez - pending.

His attorneys asked the public not to jump to conclusions. The information and evidence that has been released on this case has all been one-sided and untested, they said.

"In a sense this is like the opening kick-off and we have a long way to go before the trial," Rankin said. "We're confident that at the end of the trial, Aaron will be exonerated.

"As we explained in (pleadings) before Judge (Frances) McIntyre we are not going to try the case in the media and we would encourage everyone to keep an open mind. Not one shred of evidence has been presented yet and we feel confident that when evidence is finally presented in a court of law that Aaron will be exonerated.

"Unnamed sources quoted in the media are not authoritative. They can't be questioned, they can't be cross-examined, they're not reliable. So, at the end of the day, we're confident that Aaron is going to be exonerated and we look forward to that process. In the meantime we would encourage people to keep an open mind, let the lawyers and the justice system do its job and we'll see you in another month."

Rankin did not take questions from reporters.

Bristol County district attorney Sam Sutter expressed confidence in the prosecution's evidence.

"Everybody here heard two bail arguments on successive days on June 26 and June 27," Sutter said. "Over 500 pages of documents have been released to the press and the public. Those include applications for search warrants, returns on search warrants, still photographs from video surveillance, Trooper (Eric) Benson's comprehensive arrest warrant report. So I think that evidence speaks for itself."

Asked specifically what the evidence reveals, Sutter replied: "That I think would be giving you my opinion about the evidence and that specifically I cannot do. There has been a tremendous amount of commentary about the evidence and, as I said, there's a tremendous amount of evidence. So I'll stand on what I said."

Sutter said prosecutors would "absolutely" oppose bail for Hernandez.

Michael Grieco, a defense attorney who has handled celebrity cases, believes it's not crazy to think Hernandez could get bail, though he shouldn't bank on it.

"The evidence against him (is) somewhat strong, albeit circumstantial," Grieco said. "I don't see a judge deeming him a risk to the community, if he grants house arrest with a GPS, nor do I consider the former Patriot a flight risk, regardless of wealth, if he is forced to surrender travel documents.

"I have seen bonds granted in similar circumstances and denied when the government has less. The wild card is the media scrutiny, which does not favor the defendant's release."

Several members of Lloyd's family, including his mother and his girlfriend, attended the hearing. Most were wearing purple shirts and buttons bearing Lloyd's photo. Just a few feet across the courtroom aisle were several of Hernandez's supporters, including his mother and fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, along with two people wearing Hernandez's football jerseys.

Several people who appeared to be supporters of Hernandez gathered outside the court building, including one woman with a homemade jersey that read "Team Aaron 81."

Lloyd's body was found June 17 with five gunshot wounds in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez's home. Prosecutors say Hernandez, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace were in the car with Lloyd when he was shot, and that Hernandez orchestrated the killing of his friend because Lloyd, who had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancé, had been talking to people Hernandez did not like.

According to affidavits, Ortiz said Wallace told him Hernandez fired the shots. Hernandez's home was searched June 18. Wallace, 41, is under indictment as an accessory after the fact in Lloyd's killing and has being held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. Ortiz, 27, has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm, and, until now, has agreed to be held without a bail hearing.

According to affidavits, Ortiz has told investigators that Hernandez and Lloyd had an argument in the car in the early-morning hours of June 17, and when the car stopped the other three men got out to urinate. Ortiz said he heard shots but couldn't see who fired. He said the next day Wallace told him Hernandez was the shooter.

Last month, prosecutors divulged that police were probing Hernandez's possible ties to a 2012 double homicide in Boston in which two men were shot and killed in a drive-by and a February shooting in Florida in which one of Hernandez's friends said Hernandez shot him in the face and blinded him in one eye.

That friend, Alexander Bradley, has filed a lawsuit that says Hernandez shot him as they argued in a car and then dumped him in an alley to die. This week, Hernandez was granted a stay in that case until criminal charges against him in Massachusetts - and any other possible jurisdiction - have been settled.

The issue of preserving the evidence from the out-of-state jurisdictions for potential use in first-degree murder case was addressed during the arraignment.

"I wasn't surprised, and neither was the judge surprised," Sutter said. "The issue was to what extent can we mandate that Connecticut or Florida or some other agency outside Massachusetts preserve evidence. And I think essentially what the judge said was, I understand, she said she understands, that we can't mandate it, but that we're expected to do everything we can to make sure that it's done and that's exactly what we're going to do.

"Precisely what is being held in Connecticut and what is being held in Florida, that's available to the public to some extent. We certainly will be in touch with authorities there forthwith to tell them don't disturb anything, preserve everything."

Sutter would not address whether the murder weapon, believed to be a .45-caliber handgun, has been found.

"I'm not going to comment on that at this time," Sutter said. "That would be commenting on the evidence. So that I'm not going to do. But the investigation continues, as you can see, and continues rapidly."

Sutter said the decision not to seek bail was made "within a couple of hours before" Friday afternoon's arraignment. Prosecutors, though, were ready to argue against it. When asked if he would oppose bail at any point in the process, Sutter replied: "Absolutely. Yes, we want to see Mr. Hernandez held without bail, without any doubt."

Asked why he thought Hernandez's attorney did not ask for bail Friday, Sutter said, "You'd have to ask them."

Sutter said he has been impressed with Lloyd's family throughout the ordeal.

"I think they're doing remarkably well considering just about 70 days ago they lost somebody who was obviously beloved," Sutter said. "I think that their show of support for him, the way that they come to every hearing, and the manner in which they conduct themselves, I've been extremely impressed, as impressed as I have almost ever been by a victim's family."

Sutter said he is hopeful the case will go to trial quickly, but cautioned that the entire process could take two years or more.

"The process hasn't been going on very long right now," he said. "It's only been a little over two months. I think (the Lloyd family is) very anxious for this to go to trial. I hope they understand sometimes in Massachusetts it can take as long as two years, sometimes even beyond that if there's a pretrial motion, which is appeal, goes up to the Supreme Judicial Court. It can get beyond two years. But I think that we on the prosecution's side are hoping for an early trial. We'd like to see this case tried within one year. Ideally, the defense would like to see the same thing. I'm not sure."

If Hernandez is convicted of first-degree murder, his case would automatically be reviewed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Sutter was asked about a recent story in Rolling Stone magazine that suggested he was overreaching with first-degree murder charges.

"Obviously we don't (agree) or we wouldn't have charged him with murder one and we wouldn't have asked the grand jury to vote on that indictment," Sutter said. "The fact of the matter is, though, as you know, in Massachusetts when somebody's charged with murder one, what's included in that is secondary murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, even assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery.

"So they're all these lesser included offenses. But I disagree with that characterization when I saw that. It didn't really say that. It just said I was opening myself up to that criticism. I think there was a veteran defense attorney who said that. That will obviously, that remains to be seen. The final verdict on that will be when the jury speaks at the conclusion of the trial."

Friday's hearing comes two days before the Patriots will open their season against the Bills in Buffalo. The Patriots released Hernandez within 90 minutes of his arrest. He had signed a $40 million contract in 2012, and the team is trying to withhold some of the bonus money.

The judge addressed two other issues, continuing a gag order for everyone involved in the case and ordering all investigative agencies to preserve all evidence and notes pertaining to the case.